1988 Ranger- no spark while cranking

[177CIOfPureLove]

So, I do all the work to my 88 STX, it runs drives everything. Finishing touch was to put the carpet in. The truck ran great and consistently until then. Went to go start it to move it a day later, and it would not start. I get no spark while the engine is cranking, however i noted that the spark comes in strong as soon as you get your hand off of the key and the motor is still spinning. I assume that means the ignition switch is bad? Literally no spark until I told my brother to stop cranking while I looked at the tester. The TFI is newer, and the coil works. Any ideas guys? When I shut it down nothing weird happened. Never even saw this coming.

 

[IMenriched]

So, I do all the work to my 88 STX, it runs drives everything. Finishing touch was to put the carpet in. The truck ran great and consistently until then. Went to go start it to move it a day later, and it would not start. I get no spark while the engine is cranking, however i noted that the spark comes in strong as soon as you get your hand off of the key and the motor is still spinning. I assume that means the ignition switch is bad? Literally no spark until I told my brother to stop cranking while I looked at the tester. The TFI is newer, and the coil works. Any ideas guys? When I shut it down nothing weird happened. Never even saw this coming.

You may indeed have a faulty key switch....in the mean time hear is a link to checking every thing else out...to make sure that it is the problem.
http://www.therangerstation.com/tech_library/TFI_Diagnostic.html

Also go over the grounds with a fine tooth comb, that is to say, make sure they are all good.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Lol, this is my bible, I even have it printed out and in the truck. I will have to perform the check on the TFI with the solinoid wire pulled while someone else tries to crank it..

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Alright, I replaced the ignition switch, and even swapped a good ecu in. No spark while cranking. Has anyone else had these issues before? It seems to be something in the wiring....anyone have any heads up on the wiring there? I am kind of at a loss here, everything looks good....

 

[IMenriched]

Alright, I replaced the ignition switch, and even swapped a good ecu in. No spark while cranking. Has anyone else had these issues before? It seems to be something in the wiring....anyone have any heads up on the wiring there? I am kind of at a loss here, everything looks good....

this hints of a missing ground...or one is shakey...did you confirm the one on the rear of the engine is well attached?

or the ground for the ecu under the Passenger side kick panel

relay??

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Your right, it was the two of them off of the wiring harness by the battery to the core support. Previous owner put the wrong screw in, touched it and it was loose. Although, now I have a bigger problem. She started and ran rough once beginning to warm, figured it was because I had swapped ECU's. Which I have experienced before. I go inside for about 20 minutes maybe more, whilst letting her run outside, figured she would learn her idle or stall trying. I checked maybe twice for steam out the tailpipe as its cold, make sure she was running. I remember shes still running go outside, and shes boiled over, coolant all over, frantic shut it off. I know at least that gauge reads hot, and its a new sending unit, but she was pretty far up the scale. Just below the red line. I had replaced the 13 or 15 lb cap with a 7lb one, it was the only other one I had. My other truck ran with it like that for years. Was that why? It makes sense to me, but my god, I just put this motor in there, I am praying the heads are okay......nothing in the oil when I checked.....but my god....I Just Put This Goddamed Engine in there!!!! I was going to register it wednesday!!!

 

[IMenriched]

Your right, it was the two of them off of the wiring harness by the battery to the core support. Previous owner put the wrong screw in, touched it and it was loose. Although, now I have a bigger problem. She started and ran rough once beginning to warm, figured it was because I had swapped ECU's. Which I have experienced before. I go inside for about 20 minutes maybe more, whilst letting her run outside, figured she would learn her idle or stall trying. I checked maybe twice for steam out the tailpipe as its cold, make sure she was running. I remember shes still running go outside, and shes boiled over, coolant all over, frantic shut it off. I know at least that gauge reads hot, and its a new sending unit, but she was pretty far up the scale. Just below the red line. I had replaced the 13 or 15 lb cap with a 7lb one, it was the only other one I had. My other truck ran with it like that for years. Was that why? It makes sense to me, but my god, I just put this motor in there, I am praying the heads are okay......nothing in the oil when I checked.....but my god....I Just Put This Goddamed Engine in there!!!! I was going to register it wednesday!!!

frustrating for sure!
it prolly was a stuck thermostat...or you didn't get enough coolant in there to begin with. T-stat opened and sucked it dry.

shouldn't have left it alone for that long...hard to do when it is chilly out, I know.

did you flush the radiator out while the engine was getting worked on?
Let it cool done...then add coolant...retry...watch close

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

I think it was the 7lb cap.... Everything is new. When I had the motor out everything was done, new failsafe t-stat, water pump, new hoses, new tune up, I had had her running for 8 hours the day I put her in to run all of the crap out of the motor and dump her oil. She spent most of her life sitting. I hosed it out as well. I saw some scaley crap in the bottom of the overflow, not really enough to get excited. She never boiled over before. She seems like she always was once I started her again once she was colder, no new noises.....but I have too much into this thing to have it blow up man. The radiator i flushed too before it went in, its the bigger one out of an automatic.

 

[IMenriched]

I think it was the 7lb cap.... Everything is new. When I had the motor out everything was done, new failsafe t-stat, water pump, new hoses, new tune up, I had had her running for 8 hours the day I put her in to run all of the crap out of the motor and dump her oil. She spent most of her life sitting. I hosed it out as well. I saw some scaley crap in the bottom of the overflow, not really enough to get excited. She never boiled over before. She seems like she always was once I started her again once she was colder, no new noises.....but I have too much into this thing to have it blow up man. The radiator i flushed too before it went in, its the bigger one out of an automatic.

Completely understand about how much you invested into the engine, money and sweat

All may not be lost.

Have you had it running since it boiled over?

You mentioned that the oil did not appear to have coolant in it.... that is good, & you already know that.

as scary as it is, you're gonna have to find out where the coolant went...maybe the heater core let go. My heater core box inside the cab had a external drain port...so if the heater core was leaking, it leaked it to the outside.

with new/refreshed ground ...maybe the timing has advanced/ changed? just throwing out thoughts.

 

[177CIOfPureLove]

Alright, get this. I am pretty sure the heads are fine, shes running good. Starts when warm perfectly. Crank but no start cold. Replaced fuel filter, she was pretty bad. In tank pump replaced when I did sending unit, whole shebang. High pressure pump turns on and i get good pressure @ rail. Go to crank and no start. Put spark tester on one of the wires and ground it to motor and she not only has great tested spark spanning the gap but runs great. Shut it down, start it back up. Gets stone cold, no spark. Or does it have spark? I am at a loss. Checking grounds again?

 

[HndMeDnBroncoII]

Could the plug gap be set wrong?Try cranking cold with the pedal down.If you put the pedal to the floor and hold it there it will tell the ecu the engine is flooded and it will lean it out for a bit till started.Was the ect sensor double checked.just my thoughts good luck.

 

[IMenriched]

Agreed^^ could be that the plugs aren't hot enough (42 or 44 heat range)..., and or..., it is pouring too much fuel in on cold start up.

It might also be a bad coolant temp sensor, the one for the ECU, not the gauge.
could be that the FPR is not working too...best to put a pressure gauge, you mentioned that pressure is good ...what kinda numbers did it get?